Washing-machine.



F. w. VAN NESS.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATKON FILED FEB. 19.1912.

Q 1,207,820. Patented Dec. 12, .1916.

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F. W. VAN NESS.

WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19, 1912.

Patented De0.12,1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- TF A PM FRANK WATERS VAN NESS, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent; Patented Dec, 12, 1916,

Application filed February 19, 1912. Serial No. 678,645.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. VAN Nnss,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing- Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing, forming a part thereof.

The main object of thisinvention is to continuously and thoroughly wash and rinse clothing and the like, in batches or separate lots, without directly subjecting any batch or lot to the water with which others have been washed. 7

It consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts as hereinafter particularly described and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing like characters designate the same parts-in the several figures.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 1 1, Fig. 2, of a washing machine embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is an en larged cross section on the line 3 3, Figs. 1 and 2; and Fig. 4 is a similar section on the line 4 4, Figs. 1 and'2.

The machine comprises a tank a, which is divided longitudinally by transverse partitions 1) into compartments 0. The compartments 0 are subdivided transversely by longitudinal partitions (Z into washing compartments and plunger compartments, the latter communicating with the former below said partitions.

A for-aminated clothes receptacle 6, extending longitudinally through the tank .across the compartments 0 is mounted upon a rotary shaft f, having bearings at the ends of the tank a. This receptacle is preferably constructed in the form of a cylinder with spaced longitudinal slats g rounded" on their inner sides and secured to and supported at intervals by circular bands It. At one end the head i of the clothes receptacle 0 is formed with an opening with which the lower end of a feed hopper j communicates. At the other end said receptacle is provided with a closed head is, and next to it with a discharge opening Z. Between the feed and discharge openings said receptacle is provided with an internal spiral conveyer m, by which clothes are gradually transferred from its feeding to its delivery end, where they are discharged through the opening Z upon an endless conveyer and elevator belt a. The belt at is mounted on rollers 0, the upper roller shaft being extended through the adjacent end of the tank a and provided with a gear 39 which .meshes with and is driven by a gear 9 on an eccentric shaft r running lengthwise of the machine over the plunger compartments parallel with the shaft The machine is provided on one side at its discharge end with a hopperor receptacle 8, into which the washed clothes are delivered by the belt '22.

The shaft 7 is provided at one end with a ratchet wheel t and next to the ratchet wheel with a rocker arm to loosely mounted thereon and provided with a pawl '22 adapted to work with the ratchet wheel and intermittently and s1owly turn the clothes receptacle c. The arm u 15 actuated by a rod w connecting it with an eccentric a: on the shaft 7, which is the driving shaft and is provided with a pulley e. The several plunger compartments are provided with verticallyreciprocating plungers 2, connected as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, by rods and straps 3 with eccentrics 4 on the shaft 1".

The several compartments 0 are preferably formed with hopper-shaped bottoms,

as shown in- Figs. 1, ,3 and 4, the lowest parts of which are located directlybelow the clothes receptacle eand are connected by branch pipes 5 with a discharge pipe 6,

the several branch pipes 5 being provided with valves 7. An overflow pipe 8 opens from the end of the tank a next to the feed hopper j, preferably near the horizontal center of the clothes receptacle )6. A hot water supply pipe 9 is provided with per fora-ted spray branches 10 extending transversely over the clothes receptacle 6 above the two compartments 0 nearest the feed hopper j, and provided with valvesll. -A cold water supply pipe 12 has perforated spray branches 13 extending transversely over the remaining compartments ieJa-bovethe clothes receptacle 6 and providedwith valves 14. The last compartment 0" at the discharge end of'the tank contains the conveyerand elevator belt '11, and has no plunger.

When the machine" is quite V clothes receptacle e is or may be supported at intermediate points by rollers 15 journaled in brackets 16, attached to one or long, the

. gers 2 cause the water in the veyer at being slowly turned gradually carries them over and across the several compartments c to the opening Z, through which they are discharged on the belt n. The belt n conveys and elevates them from the'compartment 0 over one side of the tank a into the hopper or receptacle 8.

The valves 7, 11 and 11 being adjusted to keep the tank a filled with water to the level of the overflow pipe 8 and atthe' same time produce a substantial downward current through the several compartments 0 and their discharge connections 5, the clothes as they pass over the several compartments are subjected to the action first of hot water and then of cold water, by which they are thoroughly rinsed, The hot water may be supplied with soap or other cleansing agents to more efiectively remove'the dirt from the clothing or the like as it is conveyed through and over the first compartments. The plunse-eral compartments except the last one, to pulsate through the openings between the slats g and through the clothes or the like contained in the receptacle 6, thereby efl'ectively loosening and removing dirt, which is immediately carried ofi by the down flow of water through the several compartments 0 and discharged at the bottom thereof through the branch pipes 5 and pipe 6 into the overflow and waste pipe 8. Each article or batch of articles in its passage through the machine may by properly regulating the supply and flow of water and the speed of the conveyer be thus separately washed and rinsed by itself withoutbeing directly subjected to the dirty water with which other articles or batches of articles are washed, thereby avoiding the unsanitary method of washing various articles or lots of articles together or with the same water, and at the same time admitting of continuously and successively washing any number of articles or batches of articles separately. e v

The eccentrics 4 are set to move the plungers 2 downward as the pawl '0 turns the receptacle e an interval so that the clothes or the like contained in said receptacle will be lifted from the slats g on the lower side of the receptacleby the upward pulsation of water produced by the plungers and thus will be free to be advanced by the spiral conveyer m toward the discharge opening Z.

The machine may be made with more or less compartments and the water supply connections arranged to deliver hot or cold water to more or less of the compartments according to the capacity required and the nature and condition of the articles to be washed. In short, various changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of the invention without change in the principle or mode of operation of the machine.

The term clothes as used herein is intended to include not only wearing apparel and bedding, but also any fabrics or material which may be washed in a machine of this kind. I claim 1. In a washingmachine the combination of a tank-diiided-by partitionsinto a number of compartments which are provided with separate discharge connections, a receptacle extending through and communicating with the compartments of said tank and having provision at itsends for receiving and discharging the articles to be washed, means for moving such articles through said receptacle, plying water to said tank.

In a washing machine the combination of a tank having a number of compartments and means for sup- Y provided with discharge connections, means tor moving articles to be washed along and in communication with said compartments, means for supplying water to said tank, and means for producing pulsations of the Water through such articles as they pass through said tank along the several compartments.

3. In a washing machine the combination of a tank having intercommunicating washing and plunger compartments, aforannnated clothes receptacle within the washing compartment and a plunger fitted in the plunger compartment and adapted to produce pulsations of water in the washing compartment through the clothes in said receptacle. r

4. In a washing machine the combination of a tank having supply and discharge connections arranged to produce a current of water through the tank, means for conducting clothes through the tank, and means for producing pulsations of thewater through the clothes as they pass'through the tank.

5. In a washing machine thec1 )lIlbll'lfltlOll I of a tank divided longitudinally by transadapted to deliver water into the several compartments of the tank.

6. In a washing machine the combination of a tank provided with discharge and overflow connections opening from the lower part and one end thereof respectively, a

clothes receptacle extending longitudinally through and communicating with said tank and provided with an internal spiral COIl-w of a tank divided longitudinally by transverse partitions into compartments having separate d1schar e connectlons. a clothes receptacle arranged in said tank in communication with said compartments and having a feed opening at one end and a discharge opening at the other end, means for advancing clothes through said receptacle from its feed to its discharge opening, a valve-controlled hot water supply pipe opening into one ormore compartments adjacent to the feeding end of the machine, and a separate valve controlled cold water supply pipe opening into 'one or more compartments adjacent to the discharge end of the machine.

In Witness whereof I hereto aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

Witnesses:

CHAS. L. Gross, ALICE E. Goss.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,207,820, granted December 12, 1916, upon the application of F rank Waters Van Nese, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for an improvement in Washing-Machines, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 3, claim 6, line 11, commencing with the word means strike out all to and including the word receptacle, line 13, as now numbered; same page and claim, line 14, after the comma. insert the words means for producing pulsations of water within said tank and through said clothesreceptacle; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 16th day of January, A. D., 1917.

F. W. H. CLAY,

Acting C'mnmiuioner of Patents.

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